Bellator 153 takes place at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville,
Conn., on April 22 and is headlined by a 170-pound title tilt
between reigning champion Andrey
Koreshkov and former UFC kingpin Benson
Henderson. The evening’s main card will air on Spike TV.

Santos, who fought for Strikeforce when Bellator President Scott
Coker was at the helm, recently signed a multi-fight deal with the
California-based promotion. The ex-husband of Invicta FC queen
Cristiane
Justino earned his first victory since 2013 on Jan. 22, when he
outpointed Artenas
Young at Legacy FC 50. The 38-year-old Brazilian is 20-16 as a
pro, with 17 wins coming inside the distance.

Ward, meanwhile, enters the matchup on a four-fight winning streak.
After scoring first-round finishes of Curtis
Millender, Roger
Carroll and Dennis
Olson under the Bellator banner, the Waterford, Conn., native
submitted Japanese prospect Ken
Hasegawa in the second round at Rizin Fighting Federation’s New
Year’s Eve event.

Freire will return to the cage for the first tim since
relinquishing the featherweight strap to Daniel
Straus at Bellator 145 last November. That defeat ended a
seven-fight tear for the 28-year-old “Pitbull,” whose only three
defeats in 27 career outings have come against Straus, Pat Curran
and Joe
Warren.

A competitor on Season 1 of “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil,”
Teixeira has earned three straight split-decision triumphs to begin
his Bellator tenure. He last competed at Bellator 143, taking a
split verdict over Gleristone
Santos in September. “Macapa” is 19-1-2 overall, with his lone
setback coming against Hugo Viana at
UFC 147.